SCHOOL ICT NEWS BULLETIN No 129 - 21/07/2008

Published by Children’s Services

Powering core networking equipment over the summer holidays

We would like to ask schools to refrain from turning off the power to the core networking equipment over the summer holidays. Core networking equipment includes routers, switches and cache servers, often in a wall or floor cabinet. These devices are monitored by ICT solutions and BT and turning off the power results in false alarms. This could result in your school incurring a charge for an engineer visit.

If there is no alternative to powering off the communictions cabinet and core equipment then please contact ICT solutions to advise us in advance.

Author: Jay Zelos

NSIX Webserver Upgrades

As the email segment of the NSIX Refresh upgrade has taken up more time than originally anticipated, we have decided to move the web server upgrades back into the summer holidays. This will enable us to free up resources to ensure the migration from the current web hosting provision is as seamless as possible.

Just as a reminder, as well as increased reliability and capacity, the solution will provide schools with control panel type functionality to create FTP accounts, manage file and folder permissions, access raw logs and view website statistics.

Schools using Frontpage extensions may need to re–upload the school website once migration has taken place to ensure the extensions work as expected, (hit counters, search, email forms etc).

Author: Jay Zelos

Norfolk Exchange 2007 Platform and Email Clients

If you prefer to use an email client such as Outlook Express, we strongly advise obtaining a licensed copy of Outlook 2003. Using Outlook 2003 with the Norfolk exchange server will permit access to advanced functionality such as global address lists, distribution lists, and allow the sharing of resources such as calendars with other Exchange users.

Most schools using Office 2003 professional should already be licensed for Outlook 2003. If not, or if in doubt, please contact the ICT Solutions contracts team for a quote.

The Norfolk Exchange 2007 Platform is used for generic email accounts such as office@myschool.norfolk.sch.uk.

Author: Jay Zelos

Internet Access via Mobile Type Devices

In the last eBulletin (128) an article entitled "Alternative Internet Connections" was written to explain why alternative Internet connections should not be used in schools. We would also like to advise that the same guidance applies to mobile Internet access via devices such as mobile phones or 3G dongles, as these may be used with computers that could be simultaneously connected to the school network.

Author: Jay Zelos

e¹ Annual update training

Some additional dates are now available for e¹ Annual Update training at South Green Park Mattishall on the 23rd July and 24th July, both am and pm sessions are available. Please see the online course dates or telephone training services on 0845 303 3003 to book a place.

Author: Jay Zelos

e¹ Update

128 Primary/Nursery Schools, 1 Special School, 5 High Schools and 2 Pupil Referral Units are now live on e1.

60 Primary Schools have recently attended a half day workshop to discuss some of the issues that they were experiencing. The workshop was split into two sessions, one session concentrating on getting information out of e¹ either as reports or using the advanced search facility. The other session was used to update on steps being taken to resolve some of the other issues schools were concerned about. The workshops were well received.

Pearson Phoenix have taken away the information and concerns provided at the workshops, relating to reports and have committed to a concentrated period of work on the report area of e¹. The evidence of this should be available in the November upgrade.

ICT Solutions Field Support Technicians (FSTs) have been asked to carry out some changes to equipment at the schools they visit to improve the response times for e¹. Some schools will already have had these changes done on the preliminary visit by Mike Brown. Schools who do not have an FST will be identified and alternative steps will be taken to make the necessary changes at these schools.

FSTs have also been asked to set up RSS feed on the key user’s machine. This will ensure that news items raised at ICT Solutions appear on the user’s desktop without the user having to log in to the ICT Solutions website first.

A programme of further training for ICT Solutions help desk staff, is being planned for the summer period and further helpsheets should be available in September. Please be aware that the help area in e1 has also expanded and is well worth a visit.

Further Annual Update/Rollover training dates for e¹ have been set up. These are available on the ICT Solutions website.

A review of training requirements is scheduled for during the summer and it is hoped to be able to provide details of refresher training or workshops after the Summer break.

Author: Jay Zelos